Was he a whistleblower – or just doing his job? The court had a clear answer
A Texas school administrator who reported alleged child abuse was fired – and just lost his federal retaliation lawsuit too.
Dr. Johnathan Castille thought he was doing his job. As the administrator over Fine Arts and Special Education at Memorial High School in Port Arthur, Texas, he raised concerns about two teachers allegedly mistreating special education students, cooperated with a child protective services investigation, and refused to change his account of what he had witnessed. He believed it cost him his career. On February 24, 2026, a federal appeals court ruled that it did not cost him his lawsuit – because the law simply did not protect what he did.
The trouble started in the fall of 2021. One teacher, Michael Oliver, allegedly withheld lunch from a special education student as a form of discipline. Another, Monique Bienvenue, allegedly interrogated a student by flipping over a table that nearly struck the child, emptying the student's backpack, ripping up papers, and throwing the contents onto the floor while the student cried. Castille documented both incidents and brought them to his principal, Dr. Melissa Oliva.
What followed, according to Castille's account, was a steady unraveling of his standing at the school. Oliva suspended him for three days with pay after he intervened to break up a student fight, citing that he had failed to deescalate – a characterization Castille disputed....
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